Otsutsuki: A Naruto What If?
by greymatter1098
Summary: An alternate version of my other story Otsutsuki. Naruto & his brother Hachiro Otsutsuki are twin space born Otsutsuki that escape from their homeworld to Planet Earth and seek refuge with the Hyuga Clan, changing the very fate of the elemental nations. For better or worse? Read to find out. Includes femnaruto (Mito Uzumaki) & femsasuke (Sayuri Uchiha).
1. Prologue

Prologue

The dark empty, cold void of space was all the two young children could see for a seemingly endless amount of distance, as they traversed through space passing a few planets, a welcome sight for the youngsters as they look beautiful, one even had a ring around whereas another had multiple moons.

However, one planet stood out from the rest, it had massive dark blue bodies of water but also has dark green islands, as they broke through the atmosphere they felt a sense of welcoming and peace. The flew down through the skies and over a series of lush green forests, hills and mountain peaks.

"So this is planet Earth." Ten year old Naruto Otsutsuki said as he and his twin brother Hachiro Otsutsuki flew over a particularly dense forest.

"According to the coordinates, yeah." Hachiro replied as he observed his new surroundings. "More lush than back home that's for sure."

"Couldn't agree more." Naruto nodded.

"So that clan you mentioned." Hachiro began silently urging his brother to answer.

"Oh yeah." Naruto acquiesced. "Alright so there's this clan and its members are people with the same eyes as us.

Hachiro's eyes widened at that. "How's that possible?"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "Don't know! Descendants of ours maybe. There are stories that one of our own once came to this planet and settled down. Maybe these guys are the offspring." he suggested.

Hachiro nodded, "It's certainly possible."

Naruto continued, "Anyway from what I know clans usually have leaders… And clans usually have power too...especially resources. We need to find this leader and get him to grant us sanctuary in his clan."

Hachiro gave him him a deadpan look, "And why would he do that?"

"Because we'd make awesome additions to the clan." Naruto declared. "Who wouldn't want two Mutant Otsutsuki children with potential like ours as tojoin their ranks."

"Our own clan for starters." Hachiro reminded making his brother visibly deflate.

Naruto rolled his eyes, "They're loss."

"What makes you think these guys'll be any different?" Hachiro questioned.

Naruto gave him a wide grin, "Call it a hunch."

"A hunch?" Hachiro looked doubtful. "Just my luck." he sighed.

* * *

Konoha

Hyuga Compound

Ghosting around the compound they took notice that all guards and people kept their Byakugan off. Naruto surmised it was likely due to privacy reasons. They turned a corner and worked their way through the compound being as quiet as possible. They quickly ducked into a room when they heard footsteps and Naruto activated his Byakugan silently. Doing a quick scan he shut it off again.

Whispering to his twin quietly. "There is a room around the next corner with a man; his chakra network is much more advanced than anyone else. For now let's assume he is the leader. Let's go."

They nodded and opened the door again. Dashing around the corner they made their way to the door with the assumed leader. Stopping, Naruto knocked on the door.

Not a moment later they heard a firm "Enter."

Sliding open the door the siblings stepped in. He eyed them suspiciously. "Who are you?"

Naruto stepped forwards, his messy white hair falling just above his shoulders flowing back as he walked. "My name is Naruto Otsutsuki…" he paused feeling the man's chakra fluctuate. Did he say something wrong? Looking at Hiashi and seeing that the Hyuga wasn't going to say anything he continued "and this is my brother Hachiro." he gestured to his twin. "Hachiro say hello." he instructed only to get slapped on the head. "OWW...What was that for?"

Hachiro glared at him, "Don't start with that bullshit again."

"Fine!" Naruto rolled his eyes.

A loud cough alerted their attention back to the Hyuga Clan Head, his Byakugan focused on them a scrutinizing look on his face. "What are you doing here and why should I not have you executed for infiltrating clan grounds."

"Uh yeah!" Naruto started to speak clearing his throat. "We need your help."

It was no exaggeration that Hiashi Hyuga was no stranger to the element of surprise, however whatever drama these two...boys were currently pulling was honestly disconcerting.

Activating his Byakugan he rose to his feet ready to do battle if necessary, to the onlooker it would seem crazy that this veteran of war would feel threatened by a bunch of toddlers but if said war had taught him anything it was to never let down your guard and always expect the unexpected. Also he'd seen many shinobi allow a child from a war torn country just as young as these two to get close to them out of sympathy and end up dead courtesy of explosive tags concealed within the youngster's clothing. Hiashi was not about to make such a mistake, he was already on edge due to the fact that these two potential assailants had bypassed security and could very well carry out a suicide attack right here putting his entire clan at risk. "You brats have till the count of three to come clean before I have you locked up for questioning."

"Woah easy there." Hachiro held his hands up defensively. "We mean no harm."

Hiashi scowled, "I will be the judge of that."

"I told you this was a bad idea." Hachiro whispered harshly into his brother's ear.

"Don't worry! I got this." Naruto assured him then looking back at Hiashi he said, "You must have help us."

"1.."

"Because we're like you." Naruto stated activating his Byakugan for good measure.

The sight of their clan's famed dojutsu in the eyes of this foreigner shocked Hiashi to the core leading him to subconsciously lower his guard.

"It's working." Hachiro said eagerly activating his own Byakugan to drive home the point.

"How..." Hiashi's words failed him as an inexplicable rage began to consume him.

"It's not working." Hachiro muttered under his breath deactivating his dojutsu. "Do something." he implored his sibling.

"How did you get those eyes?" Hiashi demanded his face full of murder.

"Uh...we were born with them." Naruto explained matter of factly.

"Nonsense! No one can have those eyes outside of our clan." Hiashi bellowed.

"We were born with them." Naruto reiterated. "Use your's and check our optic system. It's specifically predisposed to the use of the Byakugan."

Hiashi grimaced looking at them suspiciously before doing as the boy asked his pupilless eyes widening as he did so.

"Told you so." Naruto grinned while Hachiro merely took a breath of relief.

"How is this possible? "Hiashi said shaking his head in disbelief.

"We're related!" Naruto replied. "Believe it!"

Hiashi frowned but deactivated his Byakugan. "Okay you have my attention." he said sitting behind his desk. "Talk!"

"Phew! Glad that's over." Naruto grinned. "Now where were we. Oh yeah! As i was saying. We are of the Otsutsuki clan, ancient celestial beings that exist in the deep reaches of space. Our one distinguishing characteristic is our Byakugan although we have several other abilities to boast too." He noted Hiashi's eyes quirk in interest at his words but nonetheless carried on with his speech. "Unfortunately our clan is a clan of warmongers generally travelling from planet to planet sucking the chakra and life force from them for their own uses. We're raised to kill from a young age to scourge out the weak as our clan believes in a survival of the fittest ideology. However when it came to my brother and me we over performed making our superiors to feel threatened by our growth potential prompting them to try and kill us so we decided that that lifestyle didn't really suit us anymore and we hightailed out of there." the boy concluded.

Hiashi glared at them eyes filled with doubt. "You take me for a fool."

"Its the truth." Naruto stated.

Hiashi snorted, "You expect me to believe that you two are a pair of aliens from outer space. It seems to me that you two have been reading too many science fiction magazines."

"We believe that one of our clan members came to this planet a millennia ago and procreated with a member of the local populance which eventually gave birth to your clan." Naruto insisted.

"I find that hard to believe." Hiashi countered. "Our clan records have no mention of such an event."

Hachiro cut in, ""I don't suppose their's anything we can do to convince?"

Hiashi turned to him, "I don't know. Can you."

Both brother's nodded at one another and began levitating and began moving in the air all over the room while Hiashi watched mouth gaping eyes wide as saucers.

"Kai!" Hiashi said trying to undo what he presumed to be a genjutsu only for it to have no affect at the sight before him. "I must be going crazy." he said rubbing his eyes trying to take in the reality of what was happening.

"So now since that's out of the way lets talk business alright." Naruto said as the brothers returned to the wooden floor. "We're offering to lend your clan our power in exchange for sanctuary and training."

Hiashi seemed to be lost in his own thoughts to hear him.

"Hello! Earth to...er what was your name again." Naruto asked.

Hiashi was weighing the pros and cons, on one hand alien beings coming down into his clans home, claiming to have distant relations with his clan seemed too far fetched in spite of their previous demonstrations and their possession of the Byakugan but at the same time their Byakugan and other bloodlines that the boy mentioned were most probably much stronger than any Hyuga on earth provided they spoke the truth and they were aliens something he was still unsure whether to believe or not. If they were spies from another village or organization then he would have just exposed his clan to a very big threat, however given their ages, he doubted either of them was any older than ten, he felt he could keep them under surveillance and should the need present itself subdue them. If things worked out though than this would be a huge chance to strengthen his clan's bloodlines and help further establish themselves as one of the strongest clans in existence.

"Well we're waiting."

Hiashi leaned forwards "Very well. I have a few demands. Firstly both of you shall marry into the clan. You will help strengthen our bloodlines through this. Secondly, you will reveal any and all clan secrets pertaining to the Otsutsuki clan to be filed into our own library. Thirdly I will place a seal on you, locking your eyes away should you ever die. And finally you will demonstrate any and all of your abilities. All this in exchange for your protection."

Naruto whistled, "Talk about driving a hard bargain." he chuckled before sighing. "I don't suppose any of those terms are negotiable."

Hiashi shook his head, "These terms cannot be compromised on, all my demands must be met in order to attain the protection of my clan." he stated in a resolute tone.

Both boys took a moment to let the words sink in before Naruto asked, "What of this seal. How does it work?"

Hiashi frowned, he was hoping to avoid this conversation until after the seal was administered. He sighed, "Like I said before this cursed seal is used by the Hyuga Clan in order to protect our kekkei genkai, the Byakugan. Members of the clan's main house brand members of the clan's branch houses with the cursed seal so that, when they die, their Byakugan will be sealed away, preventing its secrets from being learned by enemies." he stopped hoping to leave it at that.

"And?" Hachiro said urging him to continue.

"And what?" Hiashi attempted to feign ignorance.

"There's more to it. We can tell. Don't bother hiding it." Naruto exclaimed.

Hiashi glowered at their stubbornness, "The cursed seal can also be used by the main house to discipline branch house members: if a main house member uses a special hand seal, the branch house member will experience intense pain, discouraging them from disobeying the main house again. If the pain is great enough, it can even kill the branch house member, destroying their brain cells."

Both brother's were horrified at this revelation.

Glaring at the man Hachiro stood tall. "In that case you can forget it. There's no way I'm getting a seal like that placed on me."

"We didn't escape one prison just to be incarcerated in another." Naruto added clenching his fists in anger.

Hiashi glared. "I can have you detained as outsiders and tortured for information if you prefer."

"Lets be civil here." Naruto reasoned trying to reign in his growing anger. "Both of us are okay with the marriage proposal but this whole thing with the seal...you must understand the main factor behind our leaving our home world was due to to our lives being threatened. We didn't come all the way here just to be used like lambs to the slaughter."

"While you have my sympathies I still won't bend on my decision." Hiashi replied with a tone of finality.

Naruto scowled, "It was nice meeting you." Both brothers turned around to leave but paused as they felt a build up of chakra behind them.

"You brats think you can come into my house, flaunt my own clan's dojutsu in front of me, make absurd claims of extraterrestrial-ism, make demands of you and then have the audacity to reject my generous offer." Hiashi's gaze was livid. "I ought to hand you over to the Hokage and leave your fate to him."

"And you expect us to just roll over and die." Naruto said as the twins flared their own chakra surprising Hiashi by the sheer intensity of it.

"Unreal!" the Clan Head muttered to himself.

"If you and your people attack us, we will fight back." Hachiro proclaimed giving Hiashi a death glare. "And trust me when I say you'll be needing a lot of body bags when that happens."

"The nerve of these brats." Hiashi mumbled. "And you think that I won't sacrifice all of that for the potential hidden in you?"

Naruto met his glare with his own. "I don't know, would you? Do you want to take this gamble?"

The staredown lasted for well over a minute before Hiashi sighed in defeat, his desire at procuring the two valuable assets before him trumping logic. Leaning back and rubbing his eyes lightly. "If I were to allow you into the main branch would first need a valid argument in favor of it."

"What do you have in mind?" Naruto queried.

"I need to know what you two can do, your kekkei genkai aside from the Byakugan, your skillsets, strengths, weaknesses, everything. Based on what I see only then will I be able to provide enough incentive to the clan to grant two outsiders the privilege of being wards of the main branch without the seal. However the marriage clause will remain where you will have to marry any female chosen by the main branch"

The boy's nodded, "That's acceptable."

"We will head to training grounds where you will display your abilities to me." Hiashi explained. "However first allow me to apologize for not answering you earlier, my name is Hiashi Hyuga, former active Jonin of the Konoha Ninja Forces and current Clan Head of the Hyuga."

"It is an honor to meet you Lord Hiashi." both boys bowed respectfully.

_"Atleast they have some manners."_ Hiashi thought to himself. Perhaps he could work with this. "Good to have you."


	2. Graduation

4 years later

Graduation Day

After much discussion and argument amongst the clan it was decided that while the Otsutsuki twin's would not join the Main nor the Side Branch but rather would serve as wards of the clan as a whole. This basically meant that the two brothers would basically be under the guardianship of the Hyuga but would not be recognized as Hyuga's themselves, they would be trained, offered lodgings and sustenance within the clan however they would hold no authority over the Side Branch nor anyone else but instead be answerable to the Head Family as well. The plan was that on attaining the rank of Chunin they would serve as bodyguards to the clan and ensure their protection at home, abroad and all future public and private endeavors which they engaged in. Also once they came of age, in their case it was decided when they turned eighteen, they both were expected to enter into marriage with Hyuga women and produce offspring who would take up the Hyuga name rather than their own to ensure their genetics transition into the Hyuga Clan.

The siblings moved into a small bungalow near the main building on the Hyuga compound. It was a modest home with the Otsutsuki Clan crest on its walls. To avoid dissatisfaction amongst the Branch family as they might complain why unknown outsiders were being given privileges that they as family were not the twins were given separate quarters from the Main & Branch families.

The property still belonged to the Hyuga but was currently allotted to the quads as per their deal, they couldn't claim ownership over it. If they wanted their own homes they'd have to purchase them out of their pockets. As wards their upbringing or whatever was left of it would be seen to by the Hyuga nonetheless they still had to earn their keep and income via missions and conduct in order to bring prestige to the clan.

The Hyuga Elder Council had posed a problem. They hadn't been willing to budge on the issue of the Curse Seal and had insisted that both siblings be branded. The twins had replied that they would leave if such a thing happened and would annihilate anyone that attempted to stop them. The Elders in their arrogance had not been amused nor intimidated. The two parties nearly came to be blows but were stopped by the timely intervention of Hiashi who had to literally strong arm the council into not letting such a golden opportunity slip through their fingers. Even so the elders still weren't keen on allowing such dangerous outsiders into their clan without any form of leverage over them but let the matter rest for the time being. They couldn't deny after a demonstration of the children's abilities that they themselves weren't eager to have those genetic traits introduced into their clan.

The siblings' impression of their fellow white eyed people jotted down to one sentence. 'They were a bunch of stuck up pricks'. They didn't like jokes, were an oddly serious lot, quiet and reserved and seemed to have a god complex, the elders especially quite apparent in their treatment of the Branch family. Speaking of whom, those guys with those seals on their foreheads were only of the sorriest bunch the siblings had the misfortune of meeting. While they attempted to hide it under an emotionless subservient facade, their sullenness and distaste for the Main Branch was almost palpable, however they could never show it as the slightest hint of anger would have a Main family member pick up on it and activate the seal causing unbearable agony to the branch members' nervous system. It was a pitiful existence which made them glad that they were able to bargain out of the seal application.

Fortunately not all Hyuga were 'bluenoses' as Naruto liked to call them. One of the exceptions to the 'regular Hyuga' being Hiashi's elder daughter Hinata & her caretaker Ko Hyuga though they supposed Natsu Hyuga the caretaker of Hiashi's younger sister Hanabi was kind of nice too. However they spent most of their time with Ko & Hinata as the former had been assigned to oversee their education in the Hyuga Clan techniques and customs.

From their conversations and training together the siblings had concluded that Hinata was a meek, timid person who stuttered as a result of low self-esteem & shyness, hardly the criteria for a fighter. She also had an annoying habit of blushing constantly which didn't do her any favors in their eyes. In their opinion Hinata's overly kind and self-conscious behavior not fit for the life of a professional killer. let alone be expected to lead a clan of them someday. In short they could understand why she had been removed from her position as Clan Heiress. Though given her high birth and status as the Clan Heads Daughter and their own minor standing as 'Wards of the Clan' or 'Free Loaders', as the Branch Family children, that Neji kid in particular (what was his problem anyway) liked to call them, they were meant to mind their behavior and keep their opinions to themselves, though they suspected part of that attitude was due to bitterness at having being replaced as the next prodigy of the clan.

Now Hinata's sister Hanabi, if they could see why Hinata was passed as heiress they could definitely see why Hanabi was granted the title. Confident, hardened, talented & determined, all these qualities considering her age made her the perfect candidate for leading the Hyuga Clan in the future and totally kill it as a shinobi.

That didn't mean they liked her any better. She was another 'bluenose' who even after a live demonstration of their strength viewed them as unrefined barbaric ruffians undeserving of the Byakugan. Naruto had nearly given her a peace of his mind which in his book meant a powerful telepathic attack to fry her brain, then and there but refrained when Hachiro reminded him that doing so would bring them back to square one with both the Otsutsuki & Hyuga Clan after them this time.

Inspite of all this they had a roof over their heads, three meals a day & were getting trained to boot, they could have done worse.

It must also be observed that this year's class was special according to Hiashi considering it was filled with clan's heirs.

There was the Inuzuka known for their dog partners and collaboration Ninjutsu. The heir of the clan was Inuzuka Kiba, a loud and brash kid, he had brown hair and two red marks one in each cheek, symbol of his clan.

There was the Akimichi Clan. Their heir was Akimichi Chouji, a small boy with large bones, anyone who called him fat gets smashed. Their clan was known for using techniques relied on high calorie usage, meaning Chouji was always eating.

There was the Yamanaka Clan. Their heiress was Yamanaka Ino, she had long blonde hair and wore a dark blue outfit. Her clan used mind techniques. However unlike Naruto's telepathy they could only read thoughts through physical contact with their target and in order to control someone had to astrally project themselves into the other person's body, whereas Naruto could do it safely from the confines of his own.

There was the Nara clan. Their heir was Nara Shikamaru, he had pineapple style hair and wore mesh shirt with black sleeveless jacket and black pants. He was lazy and mostly through classes. The Nara clan was known for its members having high IQ and being extremely skilled in strategy and planning. Shikamaru's father was actually the Jonin Commander of the village.

There was the Aburame Clan. Their heir was Aburame Shino, he has a collected guy, distant to everybody. He had black sunglasses and wore a grey hoodie, which hid most his features. His clan relied on using bugs to fight. Their children once born are implanted with bugs that feed on their chakra so they can use them to fight.

There was the Uchiha Clan. The last members of this clan and heir was Uchiha Sayuri. The last Uchiha wore a blue crop top coupled with a white skirt, and blue shinobi sandals. Her hair - long, black and shiny - were tied up in a high ponytail with a matching ribbon, and the only stain her porcelain white skin seemed to exhibit was a faint coloring to her cheeks. The most striking feature she had, however, had to be her deep onyx eyes. The Uchiha clan was for their high affinity for fire and their kekkei genkai the Sharingan a dojutsu like the Byakugan.

There was also a girl named Haruno Sakura, she had pink hair and wore a pink dress. Even though she wasn't from any clan she was in this class. She was the daughter of Kizashi & Mebuki Haruno who were members of the civilian council.

The last clan was no other than the Hyuuga Clan and their heiress Hyuuga Hinata, Hiashi's daughter. The Hyuuga clan much like the Uchihas were known for their doujutsu the Byakugan. This bloodline limit when active allowed them to see chakra with high detail, almost 360 degree vision and long range extending to kilometers if trained enough. The clan also have the gentle fist taijutsu style which is renowned to be the strongest form of taijutsu. The four Otsutsuki siblings couldn't wait to learn this style.

Last but not least was the 'Pariah of the Village' Mito Uzumaki, a red haired (with golden side bangs) fiery tempered girl, who was the tomboy, clown and dead last of the class. She was an orphan who didn't have any friends due to being a loudmouth prankster and her short temper as she beat up anyone who pissed her off. For some reason she was disliked all over the village, the brothers had noticed the looks of hate directed towards her, initially they assumed that was because of the pranks she pulled but had come to realise that something else was amiss.

Moments later Umino Iruka walked thought the door. Said person had black pants and standard chunnin flat jacket. He had brown hair tied in a pony tail and large scar across his nose. "Good Morning class" - he said. Checking the classroom and noticing he didn't get their attention he used his patented Big Head Jutsu and yelled "SILENCE".

Everyone quieted down a Iruka started calling his students to mark their presence.

"As you all know" Iruka started "today is your graduation exam. At the end of the today those who pass will become shinobi of the leaf. We will start with written exam, followed by weapons, taijutsu and finally ninjutsu." "Now let's begin" Iruka said and started handing out the exams.

For the next two and a half hours, the Otsutsuki siblings and the others students worked on the exam questionnaire. Once time was up Mizuki came up and collected all the sheets from the students, where Iruka then told them to come outside with them for the practical parts of the exam, something the trio were a bit more enthusiastic about.

Iruka then told them that they were going to test them on their throwing and aiming, where they would first throw their shuriken at the target poll, after which they were then throw their kunai at the three target dummies.

They aced it each of them each of them hitting the target dead center, getting a perfect score much to the chagrin of the others and the screams of one namesake.

Next was the Taijutsu exam, Iruka started to call out people in pairs and had them fight each other in Taijutsu.

Put against only civilian hopefuls the Otsutsuki's breezed through this portion as well effortlessly dispatching their opponents within seconds. Naruto continued to brag that he did it quickest much to their annoyance.

Last but not least was the Ninjutsu Exam where the students had to perform the three basic Academy Ninjutsu, namely the Substitution Jutsu, Transformation Jutsu & Clone Jutsu in order to officially pass the exam and become Genin, failure to do so meant being held back another year.

The Otsutsuki's breezed through it with ease.

"FAR OUT!" The boy's cheered high-fiving each other.

* * *

Hiashi's Office

"I'm pleased to see that you two have made it." Hiashi said appraising the two before him.

"Was there ever any doubt?" Naruto chanted boastfully.

Hiashi rolled his eyes, "There's no need to get ahead of yourselves. You two still have a long way to go before you're good enough to earn true respect and acknowledgement."

"And by long you mean a couple of months until we become Chunin at the next exams." Hachiro offered his two pieces.

"That is if your Team Leader deems you worthy." Hiashi replied.

"Why wouldn't he?" Naruto said dismissively. "Once he sees how great we are he'll be begging us to take part."

Hiashi sighed internally, _"Arrogant as always, even if it's not entirely unwarranted."_

"Yeah and then we'll show that Neji how useless his 'Fate' is against our awesomeness." Naruto declared.

"Don't get too overconfident." Hiashi warned cutting their celebration short. "Neji has a year of experience as a genin over you under the tutorship of Might Guy, a formidable Jonin. If you ask me I'd reckon that currently Neji might outshine bothof you in both experience and skill."

The boys' face darkened at his words.

_"Touched a nerve I see."_ Hiashi noted with slight amusement.

"It wouldn't have been such a problem if you had let us graduate last year with our class instead of holding us back a year." Hachiro commented glaring at his Clan Head.

"Totally! If we'd been going on missions for the past year we'd be Kage Level by now." Naruto declared haughtily.

His two companions sweat dropped at this.

_"Okay that is pushing it a bit."_ Hachiro admitted to himself.

_"__Definitely over the top."_ Hiashi concluded, "My decision to hold you back a year was so that you would have more time to properly prepare youself for what's out there." he reasoned.

The twins snorted, _"Yeah right! More like he wanted to make sure nothing happened to his prize long term investments."_ Naruto thought.

"Regardless you two have done well and I as well as the clan expects great things from you both in the future." Hiashi explained. "Don't let us down. Is that understood?"

_"Or else!"_ they thought nodding. "Understood!"


	3. Team Placements

Team Placements

Academy

"So you reckon we'll get put on the same team?" Naruto asked his brother.

Hachiro shook his head, "Highly doubt it. That would disturb the standard equilibrium of the team. Its traditionally one high achiever, one mediocre student and the dead last." He offered his brother a grin. "Last I checked we both were in the top 10."

Naruto smirked, "You mean I was number 4 and you were number 5." he chuckled seeing Hachiro's mood sour. "No hard feelings."

"You just connected a bit more in sparring." Hachiro snorted looking away, "Besides it would have been better if we were 1 & 2. Neji'll never let us live it down, since he was last years top graduate."

Naruto frowned, "Yeah it would have been awesome if I were Rookie of the Year with you as my runner up." he ignored Hachiro's clenching fists as his tone grew sarcastic. "But unfortunately neither of us have the book smarts to match them." he motioned his finger towards the glasses wearing Aburame, the pink haired Sakura Haruno finally settling on the Last Uchiha sitting a few rows in front. "Especially her, sitting there all high and mighty, thinking she's better than us."

"Well technically she did score much better in the written test." Hachiro admitted reluctantly.

"And we beat her in sparring every single time." Naruto countered.

"True." Hachiro nodded, he himself had knocked out the girl several times. It was embarrassing really. "She is a persistent one though." he added recalling how in each subsequent rematch (which she always demanded) she'd attack them with greater fury and skill than before. Her growth rate and strategic mind was astonishing to say the least.

"Hear! Hear!" Naruto conceded, Sayuri had gumption he'd give her that. You couldn't break the girl's spirit, knock her down she'd get up and resume fighting with twice the passion. He could tell she was going to be a 'Contender' someday, she had all the natural attributes, gifts and a sharp mind to go with them. If they weren't who they were Naruto was sure they'd be worried. _"Fortunately that's not the case."_ he smiled.

"Hey look they're at it again." Hachiro pointed to Sayuri now joined by Mito. Much to their amusement the red haired girl stood crouched on Sayuri's table glaring down at the ravenette.

"They don't like each other that's for sure." Naruto observed.

"I'll say." Hachiro chuckled then his expression blanked as he remembered something. "Wait a minute! Didn't Mito fail?"

Naruto's eyes widened. "You're right! What's she doing here? How'd she get that headband?"

"Beats me." Hachiro shrugged.

They didn't get to converse further when someone bumped into Mito from behind making her face first into Sayuri's their lips connecting in a kiss.

"WTF!" The brothers were rendered speechless alongside the rest of the class, gaping at the sight before them. The Rookie of the Year Sayuri Uchiha and the Dead Last Mito Uzumaki were frozen together in a lip lock.

Moments passed, before the girl's got over their shock and separated gagging in disgust.

"Damn!" Naruto breathed completely flustered.

"You said it." Hachiro replied in a similar state.

Suddenly the front door of the classroom opened and Iruka entered with a stack of papers beneath his arms. "Morning Class" Iruka said and was surprise he didn't need his patented Big Head Jutsu to silence his class. "After today everyone of you are now Ninja of the leaf but you mere gennin" Iruka started "The difficult part is only beginning. You will now be divided in teams of three members and will be taught by a Jonin Sensei. We tried to balance the teams. So here they are...

Once the class had been seated, Iruka started to call out the teams, their numbers and what sensei's they had.

"Next Team six will have Sakura Haruno, Hachiro Otsutsuki and Sai and your Sensei will be Yamato", spoke Iruka.

Hachiro planted his face on the table. "Great! I'm stuck with the fangirl and two guys without last names." he groaned.

"Sucks to be you." Naruto snickered while his eyes narrowed zeroing in on his brother's new teammate Sai, the boy was nearly as pale as them and had a blank emotionless face, showing no reaction at all at his placement.

"Team 7 will be, Sayuri Uchiha, Mito Uzumaki and Naruto Otsutsuki, your sensei will be Kakashi Hatake" Iruka said.

Naruto frowned, he wasn't exactly looking forward to the series of cat fights he'll now have to deal with, with those two in his team. While he didn't mind Sayuri being on his team, she could carry her own weight, he wasn't so sure about the redhead.

Mito for her part was complaining, "Hey Iruka sensei! Why does a great ninja like me have to be on team with that loser." she angrily pointed towards Sayuri.

Iruka sighed, "Mito the teams consist of the student with the best result put together with the student with the worst scores. Sayuri got the best scores in all the tests.."

"EXCEPT SPARRING!" The Otsutsuki brothers called out, making Sayuri scowl at the interruption.

"...Except sparring consistently while you Mito got the worst." That statement seemed to knock the Uzumaki girl off her high horse as she sat down blushing in embarrassment.

"So I'm on the same team as the loser and the Otsutsuki, the Otsutsuki I suppose is a plus point given his skill but that idiot...", Sayuri shuddered as she narrowed her eyes glaring in disgust at Mito who simply glared back before shifting Naruto "…is irrelevant, Naruto on the other hand can atleast carry his own weight, despite being just as annoying and loud as her."

Iruka went on to state the other teams, Team eight was made up of Hinata, Shino and Kiba with Yūhi Kurenai as their Jonin Sensei.

Team Ten which was made up of Choji, Ino and Shikamaru with Sarutobi Asuma as their Jonin Sensei.

After a few more minutes the remaining other teams were announced by Iruka, after which Iruka called the Jonin Sensei's that were waiting outside the classroom, where once they entered Iruka left the room.

The Otsutsukis watched as Hinata and her team of Kiba and Shino left with their new team leader a red eyed, black haired woman named Kurenai Yuhi while team 10 consisting of Shikamaru, Choji and Ino went along with their new sensei Asuma Sarutobi who if memory served correct was the son of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

A few minutes afterward a brown haired man with a happuri style forehead protector and wearing the standard Jonin uniform made his appearance. "Team 6?" he asked prompting Hachiro, Sakura and Sai to stand up, the man's gaze shifted between them lingering on Sai the longest. "Meet me in the training grounds in half an hour." he ordered before disappearing in smoke.

"This is it." Hachiro said looking down at his seated brother.

"I'll bring you something once your out of the emergency ward." Naruto jokingly taunted.

"Sure! I'll see you soon as I'm done apologizing to sensei for putting him there." Hachiro expertly deflected the jab.

"I wouldn't be surprised if your whole team ends up there sans Sakura ofcourse." Naruto stated.

Now Hachiro grew confused, "Why her of all people?"

"Simple you guys'll have to spend every day looking at that infinite forehead of hers, encompassing all of existence, eventually you'll lose yourselves in it's endlessness from staring at it too long and go brain dead then have to be admitted." he grinned at his statement especially since it had it's desired effect, Hachiro was barely holding his laughter in. "It's been an honor." Naruto mock saluted him for added effect.

"You're too much, man." Hachiro chuckled before leaving his team, being careful not to look at Sakura.

"Wise guy." Naruto muttered smiling as he watched his brother leave to start his own career. "And now it's just the three of us." he noted looking at the two girls.

2 hours later

"OH COME ON!" Both Naruto and Mito yelled.

"Idiots!" Sayuri muttered, though she wasn't too happy about the delay either.

"What gives? What's taking him so long?" Naruto said, annoyed at having his precious training time wasted. He then noticed Mito walking over to the door the board eraser in hand. "Now what are you doing?" he asked. He saw her wedge the duster between the door and the wall. "Seriously?"

Mito grinned, "That's what he gets for late." she said jumping down from the stool. "SURPRISE!"

Sayuri tsked, "Our teacher's a Jonin, an elite ninja, think he'll fall for that?" she said with disdain.

At that very moment the door slid open and a silver haired ninja with a face mask entered, the eraser falling on his head.

Mito began laughing maniacally, "I GOT HIM. HE TOTALLY FELL FOR IT."

Naruto however looked at the girl as if she was addled or something, _"She really believes that?"_

"You've got to be kidding me. This guy is considered a Jounin?... He got sensed so easily." Was the thought of the Uchiha.

Kakashi picked up the fallen eraser. "Hmmm…how can I put this…" adopting a thinking posture. "My first impression of this group...you're a bunch of idiots."

His words made them deflate.

Naruto frowned, "Well, you're so ugly you need to wear a mask to hide your face in public." he spat at the Jonin.

Mito giggled, _"Good one."_

The Jonin ignored him. "Alright everyone meet me on the roof." He said disappearing in a explosion of smoke.

* * *

Academy Rooftop

Kakashi leaned back against a railing that covered the edge of the roof while the three genin sat on a separate set of steps.

"Well now that we're all here why don't you guys introduce yourselves." He asked in a bored tone that suggested that he wanted to be anywhere but here.

"What exactly do you want us to say sensei?" Mito was the one who asked, catching Kakashi a bit off guard by her question.

"Well you know…just the usual stuff. Your likes, dislikes,...dreams for the future,…hobbies." He described shrugging his shoulders.

Most of the group didn't know how to respond to that. "Why don't you show us how it's done first, sensei, then we'll follow." It was Mito again.

Kakashi looked at her a bit incredulously, and then sighed. "Ok then, I'm Hatake Kakashi, Things I like and things I hate...I don't feel like telling you that."

Naruto and Mito blinked at that. "Huh!?"

"My dreams for the future ...never really thought about it. As for my hobbies...I have lots of hobbies." Kakashi finished his introduction.

Naruto and Mito gave him deadpan looks. "All we got was his name." Mito whispered to Naruto who nodded.

"Okay your turn." Kakashi pointed to Mito. "You on the right, you first."

Mito smiled enthusiastically, "Believe it! I'm Mito Uzumaki. I like instant ramen in a cup and I really like the ramen Iruka sensei got me at the Ichiraku noodle shop."she then scoqled. "But I hate the three minutes you have to wait when you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different types of ramen and comparing them, and my future dream is to be the First Female Hokage. Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like somebody, somebody important."

Sayuri snorted, _"As if that deadlast could ever pull that off."_

Naruto looked at her with a mixture of pity and amusement, _"Seriously that's her reason for becoming Hokage? Talk about desperation. Now that's just sad."_

_"Well...she's grown up in an interesting way."_ Kakashi thought. "All right next." he turned to the white haired boy.

Naruto grinned a mischievous glint in his eyes as he spoke, "The name's Naruto Otsutsuki, the Greatest Ninja of All Time, fastest person alive. I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my room and was in bed before the room was dark."

The others rolled their eyes at his statement but didn't interrupt.

Naruto continued, "There are two things that are hard to hit and see. That's a spooky ghost and Naruto Otsutsuki."

"And your likes and dislikes." Kakashi cut in eager to proceed rather than hear this nonsense.

Naruto sighed in disappointment, "You guys are no fun. If you must know I like Macaroni with cheese while my hobbies are working out and singing. As for my dream for the future its to shock the world and show everyone that I AM THE GREATEST NINJA OF ALL TIME."

The others just looked at him blankly amidst the chirping of crickets in the background.

Naruto scowled, "Fine don't believe me. I'll show you all." he said crossing his arms and looking away.

Kakashi gestured to Sayuri, "Last one."

Sayuri looked up her face slightly shadowed by her thick locks of hair, "My name is Sayuri Uchiha, I hate a lot of things and don't particularly like anything."

"_Oh Oh! Emo Alert!"_ Naruto shivered.

"What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality." she explained."I'm going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone."

_"Geez! I hope he's not talking about me."_ Mito thought slightly intimidated.

_"Just as I thought."_ Kakashi mused. Coming back to the present he spoke, "Good you're each unique and have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

"What kind of mission are we going to have?" Mito asked eyes full of excitement.

Kakashi crossed his arms, "Its a task the four of us will do together."

"Duh! Thats pretty obvious." Naruto stated.

"What. What. What." Mito chanted energetically.

"A survival exercise. Kakashi exclaimed.

"Huh! Survival exercise?" Mito blinked in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked eyes narrowing in suspicion. "We already did this stuff at the Academy. Thats how we got here."

"This is not like your previous training." Kakashi explained.

"So what kind of training is it?" Mito asked hesitantly, not liking the feeling of this.

Kakashi began to chuckle in a diabolical manner.

"SPIT IT OUT!" Naruto yelled losing patience.

Kakashi gave them an eye smile, "Well if I tell you the answer you're not going to like it." he warned.

"I don't like you already." Naruto replied. "But I'm still tolerating your presence. So lets hear it." he demanded.

"Someone's got a temper." Kakashi thought amused. "Of the 27 graduates, who just finished only 9 will actually make it, and the remaining 18 will be weeded out and sent back to the academy (Glancing briefly at Naruto). In other words this is a make it or break it pass fail test and the chance that you'll fail is 66 percent." He said observing the shocked looks on their faces. "See! I told you, you wouldn't like it."

"That's crazy! We worked hard to get here. Believe it. What was that graduation test for anyway." Mito cried in indignation.

"Oh that was just to select genin who might become genin or not." Kakashi revealed.

Naruto was outraged, "Hey man! I didn't spend four years of my life sitting on a chair paying attention in class, staying in the top 10, only for you to tell me that it was all so just to see "if" i qualified to be a genin." he growled putting extra emphasis on the if.

Kakashi shrugged, "That's the way it is. I decide whether you pass or fail. Be at the designated spot at 5 a.m. and bring your ninja gear." he told them.

_"Well I'm not going to be weeded out. People are going to look up to me someday. I gotta pass this test. Believe it!"_ Mito thought determined.

_"Wonder what he has in store for us."_ Naruto pondered. _"Not that it matters. I'm gonna ace this test. I am the Greatest."_

Sayuri remained silent though her features had hardened with resolve.

As he turned to leave Kakashi spoke, "Thats it! You're dismissed." he waved them off. "Oh one more thing."he said looking back at them. "Tomorrow you better skip breakfast or you'll puke." Having said that he disappeared in smoke.

Silence once more prevailed over them as the remained in place looking at each other uncomfortably, unsure of what to say.

Deciding to break it Naruto tried to start a conversation, "The sky is awfully blue today isn't it?" he forced a smile. _"That was pathetic."_ he mentally cringed.

Mito raised a brow in exasperation, "Huh! What does that have to do with anything?"

"Well...I..." he turned to Sayuri for help only to find her gone. "That was quick."

Mito scowled, "The nerve of her, we're her teammates and she leaves us hanging like this." she crossed her arms and huffed in annoyance looking away. "She's arrogant and rude. Don't you agree Naruto." she asked, but got no response. "Naruto?" she opened her eyes and he was gone too. "NARUTOOOOOO!"


	4. The Bell Test

The Bell Test

Next Morning 8 a.m. Training Ground Three

The trio of genin hopefuls sat waiting for their Sensei to show up. They had arrived on time at dusk and had been doing nothing but wait since then even as the sun rose over the horizon.

"Morning everyone, ready for your first day?" Kakashi greeted, having appeared out of nowhere.

"SENSEI….YOU'RE LATE!" Both Mito and Naruto screamed.

"Well a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way." Kakashi explained, believing it to be an acceptable reason.

"Bullshit!" Naruto responded.

"You expect us to believe that?" Mito spat at the Jonin.

Kakashi shrugged, "Believe what you want."

They frowned at his words but let it go.

"Great! Let's get started." He said cheerfully, as he pulled a pulled out a timer and put it on the middle one of three posts, setting it's time. "Here we go. It's set for noon." He held out two jiggling bells. "Your assignment is really simple. You just have to take these bells from me, that's all there is to it."

"Seriously!?" Naruto said in disbelief. Was that all there was to it?

Kakashi continued, "However if you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch. You'll be tied to those posts and will be forced to watch as I eat my lunch in front of you."  
"Now that's just cruel." Naruto said face contorting in disgust.

_"So that's why he told us not to eat breakfast."_ Sayuri thought realizing the Jounin's deception.

"Wait a minute. There are three of us; how come are there only two bells?" Mito asked confused.

Kakashi eye smiled. "Well that way we can determine the most useless of you lot, that one will be tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one goes back to the Academy." the genin frowned.

_"That's totally unfair!?"_ Naruto thought.

"Then again all three of you could flunk out to." The Cyclops finished.

Sayuri frowned.

Mito gasped.

Naruto almost attacked the Jounin in anger but held back knowing to do so would mean being suspended for life. That would ruin everything, not that things were going any smoother at the moment.

"You can use any weapons, including shuriken, if you're not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells," he finished hanging the bells on his waist. "When I say start you can begin."

Mito however not having near as much self restraint as Naruto, took out a kunai and prematurely rushed towards the Jonin, only to be intercepted by the Cyclops her arm pulled and the kunai directed towards the back of her head, while the Jonin held her in place.

"Don't be in such a hurry." Kakashi advised the girl. "I didn't say start yet."

Naruto smirked, _"Good speed."_

"_So this is a Jonin."_ Sayuri mused.

Mito glanced back growling in anger. As Kakashi released her she gently rubbed her arm a bit sour from the Jonin's strong grip.

"However you came at me with the full intention of destroying me, so...how can i say this." he gave them an eye smile. "I'm starting to like you guys."

They three stared at him in confusion.

_"Is this guy for real?"_ Naruto wondered.

"Get ready." Kakashi announced. "Aaaaand start!"

"Everyone dispersed hiding at different points in the surrounding forestry.

"Well they understand that much." Kakashi noted, before noticing that Mito had just reappeared in front of him.

She pointed at him. "YOU AND ME! RIGHT NOW! FAIR AND SQUARE! LETS DO IT!" she challenged haughtily.

"Idiot!' Naruto and Sayuri muttered from their hiding spots.

Kakashi gave her a deadpan look, "You know, compared to the others, you're a little bit...weird." he stated angering the girl.

"Mito gritted her teeth. "Oh yeah! The only thing weird here is your haircut." she yelled once more rushing at him but suddenly halted cautiously when she saw him reach into his pouch.

"Shinobi battle techniques part 1, Taijutsu the physical part." Kakashi said as he began to pull something out.

Mito's eyes widened. _"Taijutsu! Thats hand to hand combat."_ she grew weary. _"Then why is he reaching for a weapon."_ she was left flabbergasted when Kakashi pulled out an orange book instead. "What the...?"

"What are you waiting for? Make your move." Kakashi told her while starting to read his book.

"But...I mean...why are you reading that book?" Mito asked confused.

"Why?" Kakashi replied as if it were obvious. "To find out what happens in the story of course."

"W..what!?" Mito sputtered not believing what she heard.

"Don't let it bother you." The Jonin said. "With your weak attacks it doesn't matter if I'm reading or whatever."

"Mito clenched her fists in rage, her crimson her beginning to flay wildly in the air, "I'M GOING TO CRUSH YOU." she roared as she charged at her adversary.

Back in his hiding place Naruto observed in dismay as Mito got her ass handed (and abused) by the experienced Jonin, get caught in a trap that a wild animal would have seen through and ended up hanging upside down from a tree. "Pathetic!" He then saw Kakashi get pierced by a several kunai sending him flying a couple of feet before exploding revealing a log substitution.

With Sayuri

_"Another substitution jutsu!? And know he knows where I'm hiding, gotta move fast."_ Sayuri thought frantically jumping from branch to branch. _"I thought he had lowered his guard and fell for it."_ Completely oblivious to the fact that the Jounin was watching her every move from behind some shrubbery.

Moving into a clearing she took a moment to catch her breath. "I'm not surprised that he got that loser so easily but, I'm not like Mito or Naruto."

"Say that after you get one of these bells." she stiffened realizing that her sensei had already found her. She glanced back, he was reading his book.

"Right Sayuri?" The Jonin said as he began walking towards her chuckling softly.

For a moment both just stood there simply staring at each other, before the Uchiha reached into her pouch and threw a barrage of shuriken at the Jounin, which he easily dodged, only to spring into a trap that the girl had laid out for him as several more kunai and shuriken were fired at him from the nearby trees.

"So she was aiming for the rope, not me." Kakashi realized, as Sayuri appeared behind him attempting kick which was effortlessly blocked, the punch that followed was stopped as well. Sayuri spun around and aimed a kick with her free leg, which the jounin thwarted as well, however in the process he let go of the Uchiha's arm with which she subsequently tried to grab the bells. She was only able to touch them however as Kakashi realizing her intentions released her and jumped back putting some distance between them.

"Fire style: Great Fireball Technique" The Uchiha launched a massive orb of roaring flame at the Cyclops. When the flames dispersed however all that was left was a burn't crater with Kakashi nowhere to be found. "Where did he go? Behind us…above?" Sayuri thought as she looked around anxiously not wanting to be caught off guard.

"Where?" a voice rung out from underneath, Sayuri had no time to react when a pair of hands grabbed her legs from underground. "I'm where you least expect me." The Cyclops said pulling her underground till her entire body was submerged in it save her head.

"Right under your feet. Earth style: Head under Technique." He said staring at her a moment later. 'That was Ninjutsu the second Shinobi battle skill. You were right you do have talent and you are…different from the others but….different isn't always better. They say that the nail that sticks up is the one that gets hammered down." He finished and walked away leaving her to brood and curse at her predicament.

Back with Naruto

"Thats two down." Naruto said deactivating his Byakugan. "My turn."

"Hey Naruto."

Naruto turned around just as Kakashi performed his genjutsu, unfortunately for him both Otsutsuki brothers had a strong immunity to it. "Nice try." Naruto said popping a kunai from his sleeve and swiping at the Jonin with it who moved back just in time.

_"That was impressive I didn't even see him dispel it."_ Kakashi thought as they moved into the clearing.

"Shinobi Battle skill number 3, Genjutsu." Naruto stated a big smirk on his face. "Too bad that doesn't work on me."

Kakashi's lone eye widened. "Now that's a bold claim."

"And thats not all." Kakashi heard from behind him.

Kakashi jumped back in his surprise and was rewarded with Naruto's fist crashing into his jaw sending him somersaulting into a tree, before crumpling unconscious. That lasted a second and then he exploded into smoke.

Naruto jumped up as Kakashi's arms emerged from the ground, taking out an explosive kunai he threw it down and braced himself as the resulting explosion send him flying a short distance away landing on one of the trees.

_"Did I get him."_ Naruto wondered retreating into the thick canopy watching from one of the branches, as the smoke cleared a larger crater had formed at the site of the explosion but there was no body amongst the scorched earth. Naruto both activated his Byakugan and extended his senses trying to locate his opponent. "There he is."the boy grinned.

With Kakashi

"That was unexpected. The boy's got excellent reflexes." Kakashi said to himself as he wiped the dust from his seared clothing. "Good thing I hid my 'precious' in time, you don't find a limited edition everyday after all."

"You don't say." Naruto exclaimed materializing in front of him forcing Kakashi to move to the side to avoid an incoming punch which instead obliterated a tree in his place.

_"Such power!"_ Kakashi thought awed at the display. his eyes widened sensing the boy behind him. _"When did he move."_ he quickly substituted with a log which was destroyed by Narutos strike.

"Come back here." Naruto cried giving chase.

_"He wasn't joking about his speed."_ Kakashi realized as he disappeared into the forest.

"You can run but you can't hide." Naruto yelled as he followed the Cyclops. Once inside he looked around at the dense shrubbery finding no sign of the Jonin. "Come out come out, where ever you are."

Unbeknownst to him, he accidentally stepped on a trap which resulted in a hail of shuriken showering towards him from all sides.

'Rotation!" He cried spinning at high speeds creating a chakra dome around him which repelled the kunai. "That does it." he said when he ceased.

Kakashi observed this from his hiding place in a far away tree trying to mask his presence the best he could not that it mattered much considering the boy had the Byakugan. He'd been informed that the two Otsutsuki brothers were much stronger than their peers and were originally stated to graduated a year earlier along with Guy's team but were held back on Hiashi's insistence, but this was something he honestly hadn't expected. He suddenly felt several projectiles impact the tree and hears the sizzling of the burning tags. "Shit!"

* * *

Outside

Naruto observed the explosion from a distance. "Smart ass." he said as Kakashi reappeared unscathed (except the burnt clothes) a few paces from him.

"I'll admit you're more of a handful compared to the others." The Jonin conceded sighing in disappointment, he had been hoping he'd get more time to read his book.

"I'm a lot more than that." Naruto boasted cracking his knuckles. "What say we end this game of cat and mouse and cut to the chase."

Kakashi gave him an eye smile. "And be on the receiving end of your power punches. No thanks!"

Naruto shrugged. "Pity! But no choice." The very next minute Kakashi lurched forward, the air leaving his lungs, eyes popping out of their sockets courtesy of Naruto's fist in his gut.

"H..how!" The Jonin's coughed blood staining his mask, he could swear one or more of his organs had just been ruptured. "When did he move?" He didn't get much time to ponder any further when he felt the boy strike his chest and limbs closing his chakra points leaving his body limp, making him collapse to his knees. _"Damn it!"_

"Sweat dreams." Naruto told him before decking him unconscious. "That's what you get for playing around." Naruto yelled at Kakashi's prone form feeling a bit insulted at being overlooked in such a manner, though to be fair considering how easily the other two one of them being Rookie of the Year were taken out, he supposed it was only natural not expect the third member to be any better. But still! Always expect the unexpected, isn't that what life was all about. If there Jonin sensei could be surprised this easy Naruto shuddered at the thought of putting their lives in his hands. He sighed scooped the bells and made his way over to the two girls.

* * *

Mito felt the rope holding her give way, she quickly readjusted herself mid air and landed on her feet. "Finally." she breathed in relief still feeling dizzy from the blood rushing to her head.

"You okay." Naruto asked.

The redhead looked at him, "Yeah!" then blushing a bit. "Thanks!' she manged to mutter.

"No prob!" he grinned. "Now lets go find Sayuri."

The Uzumaki nodded and followed him.

With Sayuri

It had been a while now and Sayuri was still stuck in the ground. The girl gritted her teeth in anger and bitterness at having failed the test. All that training, all that hours of work and for what? She could feel the stinging in her eyes but her pride wouldn't allow her to give in.

"Well what do we have here."

Sayuri broke out of her musings as she saw both her teammates walk over to her, shit eating grins on their faces. Great just what she needed.

"How's it going, Miss Rookie of the Year?" Naruto said leaning down until there faces were inches apart. "Not so high and mighty now are you?" he smiled while moving his head to the side to avoid the spittle she threw at him. "Did I touch a nerve?"

"Fuck you." was her response.

"Now! Now! Thats not nice." he reprimanded her mockingly. "Especially after all the trouble I went through to help you."

"I don't need your help." she spat.

"Suit yourself!" he said standing upright and began walking away. "Lets go Mito."

Mito seemed a bit hesitant though. She was no fan of the Uchiha but leaving her here like this. It didn't seem right. "Naruto!I don't think we should leave her like this."

Naruto glanced back at her disbelief etched on his features. "Never thought I'd hear that from you."

"I know she's a bitch and all." Mito frowned. "But we're supposed to be a team and teammates look out for one another don't they."

"Look out?" Naruto pointed accusingly at the trapped girl. "In her case you need to watch out for her lest she stab you in the back."

"Come on Naruto. Sayuri-chan wouldn't do something like that." Mito said in the other girls defense making said Uchiha widen her eyes.

"You're a fool." Naruto replied. "I've seen it in her eyes. She's the type that would use any means to achieve her goals regardless whether they're right or wrong. She'd backstab without a second thought if it suited her purpose. We're nothing but a means to an end for her." he said glaring disdainfully at the ravenette who glared right back. "I refuse to be treated in such a manner."

"Regardless we need to give her a chance." Mito reasoned.

"And why should I listen to you." Naruto demanded.

Mito seemed to muse over that question for well over a minute.

"Well?" Naruto asked. "I'm waiting." he pressed her to hurry up.

Suddenly Mito's eyes widened and she grinned as the answer came to her. Locking eyes with him she spoke, "If you're so great as you say you are than you won't let that happen. You won't let this team break up." she challenged.

Her statement rendered Naruto speechless and for a while he merely looked blankly at them.

"Earth to Naruto!" Mito said waving her hand in front of his face.

Naruto came back to his senses and gave her a piercing glare making her back up nervously. Thankfully his face then broke into a smile. "Real smooth girl."he said before slamming his foot into the earth several extending from it to where Sayuri was trapped, the ground splitting open and freeing her.

The girl groaned as she tried to regain the feeling in her limbs.

"You okay Sayuri-chan." Mito asked with concern.

"Hn!" The Uchiha looked away.

"Huh!" Mito was left gobsmacked.

"See! What did I tell you." Naruto gesturing to Sayuri. "Bitch!"

Sayuri glared at him, "You better watch your mouth Hyuga."

"It's Otsutsuki." He corrected her.

"Whatever! You better watch your words otherwise..."

"What!" He challenged."Otherwise what?"

"I'll kick your ass." She barked.

"Oh please!" he laughed. "You couldn't save your own you expect to beat mine."

"I don't see you with any bells." she retorted.

"You mean these." he grinned taking out the jiggling instruments.

Mito gasped.

Sayuri gaped, "H..how...when did you get them." she demanded.

"By knocking out their previous owner." he replied shrugging as if it were a days work.

"You knocked out Kakashi?" Sayuri said. "Yeah right! You expect us to believe that."

"I have the bells don't I?" he insisted shaking them to prove his point.

"You probably stole them." Mito accused looking very pleased with her assessment.

"Yeah! That's what we were supposed to do." He rolled his eyes.

Mito blinked at his words before flushing in embarrassment.

"How on earth did you snatch them all by yourself." Sayuri inquired.

"Because I'm the greatest and your not. Period!" Naruto answered tired of obliging them.

Sayuri scowled, "Idiot!"

"Weakling!" He countered.

Sayuri's eyes narrowed dangerously at those words. "Watch it."

"You wish." he grinned not intimidated at all.

"So what are you going to do with the bells." Mito asked breaking their argument short.

Naruto considered her words then looked at the bells then back at them. "Here!" he threw them one each to the girls.

"What?" No! Naruto you cant do this." Mito protested not wanting him to make such a sacrifice for her sake. She's the one who failed to meet the challenge put before her and as much as it hurt her to say this she deserved to face the consequences of her lackluster performance. Sure they were meant to be a team but Naruto had to do all the worked and she's be damned if she passed at his expense. "I can't accept this." she held the bells back to him.

"She's right!" Sayuri nodded for once agreeing with the red head. "I don't need your charity. I carry my own weight and I'll pass this test with my own strength not with your help nor your generosity." she spat.

"Sure you will?" Naruto waved her off dismissively.

"Bastard!" she grit her teeth.

"Besides you guys have got it all wrong." he exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Sayuri quirked a brow.

"The truth is..." Naruto took a deep breath. "The truth is that I don't really like either of you nor that incompetent guy." he pointed in the direction where thre girl's presumed he'd left Kakashi. "And despite all that earlier bravado about me being all great and not letting this team break apart, I can see that this team is a disaster just waiting to happen. As far as I'm concerned I'd rather spend another year at the Academy than be a part of this team than have it all blow up in my face."So..." he gave them the warmest fake smile in existence. "All the best and sayonara." he began leaving inspite of their protests before suddenly coming to a halt.

"Whats wrong?" Mito asked.

Naruto looked back a grimace on his face.

"Stop making faces, idiot." Sayuri growled only to be puzzled when he began pointing at something behind them.

Both girls turned around going pale as they did so.

"Hey guys." Kakashi eye smiled a bit pale but otherwise in one piece.

* * *

Konoha Memorial

"You recovered pretty quick." Naruto said from his position tied up to tree trunk.

'Come on!" Kakashi admonished him. "You didn't think an attack like that would take me out did you?"

"Seemed like an authentic knock down to me." Naruto replied.

"Knock down! Yes! Knock out! No!" Kakashi revealed.

Sayuri snickered. "Told you so."

"Why did you let me take the bells then." Naruto shot back.

Kakashi had the decency to look a bit sheepish at the statement. "I admit I might have been...slightly incapacitated at the moment."

"Hn! Hn!" Naruto smirked at Sayuri who scowled an looked away.

"But after you left I got back to my feet and healed the damage you dealt me and viola." he spread his arms to show that he was good as new.

Naruto's face beamed with pride. "Must have been bad if it took you that long to heal it."

"Actually I was done a while ago." Kakashi explained.

Naruto dropped his smile, "Then what took you so long to find us."

Kakashi answered, "Well you'd already taken the bells so there was no point to fight you guys any longer. However when I found you I saw you discarding those bells without a care in the world not understanding what any other genin wouldn't give to be able to lay their hands on even one of those. If that wasn't bad enough you began badmouthing both your teammates and myself." his lone eye hardened at the boy. "You got one lucky shot in that both took me by surprise as well as compromised me momentarily which I admit for an aspiring genin is nothing less than outstanding, however on that one accomplishment alone you dismissed me as a sensei and my abilities altogether, you accused Sayuri of being untrustworthy and disregarding you guys then you go on and do the exact same thing the next minute and finally you call Mito useless yet I never saw you attempt to help either of them when they were fighting me. In my opinion you're the most arrogant and worst of this lot."

"You done!" Naruto yawned the Jonin's words not moving him even a bit. "Can I go home now."

Kakashi's expression darkened, "By all means. But do us a favor and stay there from now on, don't bother returning to the academy either because as of this moment you're out of the shinobi program."

That waked the teen up, "WHAT! YOU CAN'T DO THAT." he screamed in outrage.

"I can and I have." the Jonin responded.

Enraged the boy broke through his bindings and prepared to attack the silver haired ninja but before he could do so Kakashi had already appeared behind Sayuri holding a kunai to the shocked girl's neck.

Naruto tsked, "Hiding behind little girl's now I see." he mocked in disgust.

"Sensei! What are you doing?" Mito blurted out in horror.

"You don't know what it means to be a ninja." Kakashi stated his voice much louder and stern than usual. "You think its a game, huh?"

Mito didn't know what to say while Naruto just glared hatefully at the man.

"Why do you think we put you on squads?" He asked them. "Did you consider that question for one moment."

"I...I don't know what you mean." Mito stuttered.

"I mean you never realized what this exercise was all about, not even close."he berated them.

"If you're so wise. Oh Great One! Enlighten us." Naruto barked at him.

"Use your head. Three people on a squad. Why do you think we would do that." Kakashi asked.

"To improve our chances of survival thats why." Naruto replied as if it were obvious.

"And how owuld that happen?" Kakashi inquired.

"How would that happen?" Naruto looked at the Jonin as if he was an idiot. "By having each other's back. Teamwork! Duh!"

"Exactly!" The Jonin stated. "Working together. Too late now. But if all of you came at me as a group you might have taken these bells."

"I took them anyway." Naruto protested.

'And then discarded them without a thought." Kakashi responded. "That makes you an even bigger idiot in my book. You completed your objective and then blew itby letting the bells go. You were meant to retrieve them, instead you surrendered them. In a real life retrieval mission, such behavior can have dire consequences. As for as I'm concerned throwing the bells away is the same as not having them anymore and therefore, YOU FAIL." he concluded stressing the last two words.

Naruto glowered, "Even so you have no right to kick me out of from the program."

"A genin should have a natural feel for teamwork. But you..." his eyes become were filled with disdain making Mito bow her head in shame. "It never even crossed your mind." he focused particularly on Naruto. "You Naruto embody everything a genin shouldn't be. Ninja missions are carried out in squads, ofcourse individual skill is important but teamwork is the most essential element. A shinobi understands this. When ninja put themselves over the squad it can lead to failiure and death. For example!" he pressed the kunai to Sayuri's neck making the girl a bit pale with fear despite the defiant look on her face. "Mito kill Naruto now or Sayuri dies."

"I'd like to see her try." Naruto stated releasing his killing intent petrifying the read head in place.

"_This boy!"_ The Jonin sighed in frustration and defeat as he let Sayuri go and walked over to a memorial stone. "Look at this...the numerous names carved into this stone. All these names are those praised as heroes in this village."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Naruto demanded frustrated at the Jonin's antics.

"The name some of my friends are carved in here as well.

Naruto had enough decency not to comment on that.

Kakashi sighed, "Alright! I'll give you one more chance. But I'll make it much harder on you." he explained. "You'll have three hours to catch a bell. Eat lunch in order to build up strength but, Naruto doesn't get any."

Naruto frowned, some chance.

"It's your punishment for your despicable behavior." Kakashi said. "And if anyone tries to feed him that person will immediately fail. I make the rules, you follow. Got it?"

* * *

Naruto was retied to the post and the bentos were handed out.

While Sayuri was busy eating hers Mito stared at her own for a moment before getting up.

Sayuri looked at her confused and her eyes widened even further when she saw the redhead offer her lunch to the boy. "What the hell are you doing you idiot. You want to get us in trouble."

Naruto was equally taken aback. "Let it go Mito. Thanks but no thanks." He stated bitterly.

Mito shook my head. "Sensei's gone. We need to get those bells as a team. If Naruto's hungry he'll be weak."

"Says who? I..." He choked as she shoved a chopstick full of rice down his throat silencing him for now.

"That'll hurt the team and jeopardize the mission." Mito reasoned.

Sayuri was hesitant not willing to put her career at risk for someone she had no attachment to.

"Besides he did give his bells up to us earlier." Mito said. "Even if it was for selfish reasons he was willing to benefit us."

"Fine!" Sayuri gave in and offered her food as well.

"Sayuri! Mito!" Naruto breathed unsure what to say.

All of a sudden an enormous cloud of smoke appeared, alarming them. Kakashi came out as the smoke and wind died down. "You three! You broke the rule. Are you prepared for the punishment?" He did a few hand signs and dark clouds appeared overhead with thunder and lightning lighting up the sky.

_"What the hell! How did he learn to do that. Did Hachiro show him? Why? How?"_ Naruto thought.

"Any last words?" Mito was shaking and Sayuri looked ready for a fight, while Naruto had broken his binds again and adopted a battle stance too.

"But! But! But! But!…You said—that's why…there's three of us, right?" Mito stuttered.

"We're all on this squad and we're all in it together." Sayuri said with resolve.

Kakashi shifted his glance towards the white haired boy.

"The three of us are gonna whup your ass." The boy declared.

"THE THREE OF YOU ARE ONE? THAT'S YOUR EXCUSE?" Kakashi questioned coming forward.

Mito began backing up in fear but was held back by Naruto who pressed her hand reassuringly giving her a real smile this time. "Never again." he whispered in her ear making her blush. He then grabbed Sayuri's and didn't let it go despite her attempts to free herself from his powerful grip. Looking up at Kakashi he hammered the lasrt nail in the coffin. "All for one, and one for all."

* * *

In another universe a green haired boy and grey haired one in different locations sneezed.

* * *

"Is that so?" Kakashi started forward and Mito, Sayuri & Naruto stood together ready to fight. He gave them a once over and smiled. "You pass!"

"Huh?" Mito said for the millionth time that day.

"What the...?" Naruto just stared blankly at the Jonin.

Sayuri was still on guard not trusting the Jonin.

"You four are the first squad I passed." Kakashi said as the clouds cleared. "The others did exactly as I said and fell into every trap. They couldn't think for themselves. 'ANinja must see through deception.'" he quoted. "In the world of ninja, those who break the rules are called scum… but those who don't take care of their friends are even worse scum."

Despite his reservations Naruto smiled while Sayuri just smirked. Mito though, looked ready to cry. "Y..you know what. H-He's kind of cool."

"The exercise is over. Everyone passes." he gave them a thumbs up. " Squad Seven starts its first mission tomorrow!"

Mito began celebrating cheering loudly. "I did it. I did it. I'm a ninja. Believe it!'

Kakashi turned around and started walking away. "Let's go home." he told them.

The girls nodded and followed.

Naruto stayed back for a moment taking in his new team. "Maybe...this ain't so bad after all." he smiled before running after them.


	5. Mission to Wave Part 1

Mission to Wave Part 1

3 Months later

Hokage Office

"Oh, my little Tora! Mommy was so worried about her little Fuzzy-kins." Madam Shimiji a middle-aged corpulent woman with dark brown hair kept in three separate poofs, said fondly hugging her cat extremely tightly knocking the breath out of the poor creature.

"This is animal abuse." Naruto stated observing the scene before him.

Sayurii snorted at his statement. "You're one to talk. You're the one who caught her in the first place." She accused crossing her arms.

"Hey it's not like you were sparing any pains to let her escape." He mocked. "It was a mission and we did it. No need to be angry just because I'm much faster than you." He said grinning as he knew this would set her off. To his dismay she remained calm.

"Oh please! The day I get jealous of a street rat like you is the day I stop calling myself an Uchiha." She replied bluntly without hesitation. She inwardly smiled when she saw his enraged expression feeling not an ounce of regret.

"Better than being the last of my kind." He retorted.

That set her off, she reached for her kunai but was halted by Mito. Sayuri glared at the redhead, "I'll say this once. Let go." She ordered.

"Take it easy Sayuri-chan." Mito replied trying to calm down her teammate.

Her plea fell on deaf ears though. "Let go!" The raven-haired girl demanded.

"All right break it up all of you." Kakashi interrupted ending their scuffle.

Sayuri glared at the albino who stuck his tongue out at her in response. "Whatever!" she said looking away in disgust.

"Now for squad 7's next mission we have several available tasks." The third began glad that all the commotion was over. "…."

"AWW HELL NO!" Naruto blurted out breaking out of his gloom. "We've been doing this shit for a month now. It's time we got a real mission. Something challenging, exciting, something to get the blood running." He demanded.

_"He's got a point."_ Sayuri conceded, not that she'd ever admit it to the bastard. The D-ranks they'd been doing weren't helping her at all in the training department.

"Here! Here! We want a real mission. Believe it!" Mito nodded her head in agreement.

Kakashi sighed, _"I knew this was coming."_ He lamented.

Iruka angrily got up slamming his hands on the table. "HOW DARE YOU! YOU'RE JUST A BRAND NEW GENIN WITH NO EXPERIENCE." He yelled. "LIKE EVERYONE ELSE YOU START WITH SIMPLE MISSIONS TO DEVELOP YOUR SKILLS AND PROVE YOURSELF."

"SINCE WHEN HAS BABYSITTING BEEN A MISSION?" Mito said incredulously. It was then that the third decided to speak.

"Naruto as you know the missions we get range from babysitting to assassinations. We categorize them according to their difficulty. You being genin and new one's at that get the least difficult one's." the hokage explained.

"If you're done with the lecture old geezer, can you give us a C-rank already?" Mito interrupted disrespectfully. "I mean seriously anyone can tell this isn't a normal team. I mean we've got members from two of Konoha's strongest clans…."

"You mean to say member from the strongest clan." Naruto corrected pointing to himself.

Sayuri gave him a dirty look.

Mito ignored him, "…and yours truly." She stated as if that explained everything.

The Third chuckled, "So be it." he said surprising everyone present. "Since you are so determined I'm going to give you a C-rank mission. You'll be bodyguards on a journey to the Land of Waves."

"Well it's not ideal." Naruto said frowning a bit but immediately brightened up. "But hey beggars can't be choosers, right?" he said grinning. "So, who're we guarding, a princess, some big leaf councilor…"

"Send in our visitor." The hokage interrupted him. Team 7 turned around as the door behind them opened and an old man entered. He was a grey-haired, bespectacled man with a large beard and dark eyes. He wore a sleeveless V-neck shirt with an obi, pants and a pair of sandals. He also carried a towel around his neck and wore a pointed hat on his head. "What the?" he said in a slurred voice on seeing the genin. "A bunch of little snot nosed brats?" he said in confusion before taking a swing from the bottle he was holding as the team tried to make sense of what was before them.

Naruto turned back to look at the hokage pleadingly. "Is it too late for babysitting? I'll lower my rate." He offered.

The third snickered. "Have a nice trip."

On the path to Wave

"Say Mr. Tazuna your country is the Land of Waves, right?" Mito asked the bridge builder.

"Yeah what of it?" the bridge builder grumbled.

_"Talk about attitude."_ Naruto thought narrowing his eyes at the old man.

Seeing Tazuna wasn't going to humor her Mito turned to her Jonin leader. "Kakashi sensei there are ninja in the Land of Waves aren't there?" Mito asked.

"No!" The jounin replied. "But in other countries there are hidden villages each with their own ninja. For instance, the land of Lightning has the Hidden Cloud village, the land of Earth has the Hidden Stone village, the Land of Water has the Hidden Mist village, the Land of Wind has the Hidden Sand village and our own Land of Fire has the Hidden Leaf village." He finished.

"Hey Tazuna got anyone after you." Naruto asked out of the blue. "I'm aching for a good fight. Check out my skills against some foreign ninja." He said enthusiastically.

"Not really sure." Tazuna said a trifle uneasily. "Probably just some bandits or plain robbers, you never know in these parts."

"Is that a fact?" Naruto said seemingly disappointed.

"Anyway, there are no ninja battles on a C-rank mission." Kakashi stated. "So, you can relax."

"So, we aren't going to run into any enemy ninja or anything like that?" Mito asked.

"No not likely." Kakashi replied warmly with an eye smile.

Their conversation was making Tazuna sweat a bit with nervousness something which did not go unnoticed by Naruto and Kakashi.

As they moved even further Kakashi noticed a small puddle on the side. _"What's that doing there in this weather?"_ he thought but didn't stop. The next thing Team 7 saw he was wrapped him chains and subsequently ripped to apart by two ninja that had appeared out of nowhere.

"KAKASHI SENSEI!" Mito screamed in horror at seeing her teacher killed before her.

"You're next." The two newcomers barked appearing behind Naruto simultaneously hurling their joint chain at him. Sayuri attempted to intercept it but before he could Naruto was already bound.

"Say goodnight." The brothers stated as they started to pull.

"Is there a broken radio in here?" Naruto said, with physical strength that no fourteen year old should have possessed he shattered his metallic binds.

"Impossible!" one of the brother's gasped.

"Believe it!" Naruto said mimicking Mito, he grabbed the broken chains with both hands and pulled hard.

So shocked were they by the boy's earlier display that the brothers were unable to react when they were hurled off their feet towards the boy. "What!" was all they could muster before their faces collided in a spray of blood, both of them collapsing in a heap on the ground.

"Woah!" Mito managed to mumble.

"Tsk! Amateurs." Naruto spat, frowning with contempt at their weakness.

"Why you." One of them said struggling to get up. "We'll…" he didn't get much further after Naruto's fist embedded itself in his gut knocking the air out of him and sending him to dreamland.

"MEIZU!" the one on the ground cried out with worry, only to join his brother in dreamland courtesy of Naruto's boot.

"Glad that's over." Naruto said shaking his left leg trying to clear the downed ninja's blood off of his foot. He looked at his teammates' astonished faces. "What?"

"That was amazing, Naruto." Mito said, a wide smile on her face, voice full of excitement with a hint reverence.

"I know." He grinned hands on his hips raising his chin proudly, "I'm the Greatest!"

"Hn! Show off!" Sayuri muttered under her breath, while feelings small pangs of jealousy at the same time.

"Well that was a bit unexpected." Kakashi said as he jumped out of a nearby tree. "I was certain I would have to interfere."

"Kakashi sensei!" Mito cried out happily, glad to see the Jounin alive and in one piece.

_"Faker!"_ Naruto and Sayuri thought, annoyed looks on their faces.

"You guys look okay." The Jonin observed walking over to them.

"Used a replacement jutsu." Naruto stated gesturing towards the broken pieces of wood where Kakashi had been ripped apart earlier.

"You noticed." Kakashi said, feigning surprise.

"Not just that I sensed these guys a while ago. Why do you think I asked the old drunk if someone was after him?" He said grinning slyly at Tazuna who visibly shrunk in shame. "So how did you notice them?" he asked the Cyclops.

"On our way here, I noticed a puddle." Kakashi explained. "Considering that it hasn't rained in weeks it had no business being there. I immediately knew something was up."

"But why let the genin do the fighting?" Tazuna asked curious his life was at stake here after all. "Why didn't you take them out beforehand?"

"I could have taken them out quickly. But then I wouldn't have learned anything." Kakashi said before glaring at the bridge builder. "I had to know who their target was and what they were after."

"What are you getting at?" Tazuna growled trying to look intimidating but too scared to do so, ending up lo0oking pathetic. Being half drunk didn't help either.

"I wanted to know if they were after us. Ninja attacking ninja or were they after you the master the bridge builder." The jounin explained. "When you put in your request you asked for protection against robbers or highway men. You didn't say there were ninja after you, hunting you down. Had we known this it would have been a B-rank mission or higher." Tazuna lowered his head in shame knowing he'd been found out. "Our job was to escort you and protect you while you completed your bridge. Had we known we'd be facing ninja we'd have staffed differently and charged for the cost of a B-rank mission. Apparently you have your reasons but lying to us is not acceptable, seeing as we are now beyond the scope of this mission."

"Looks like you have some explaining to do drunkard." Naruto said snickering at the bridge builders' expense.

Later

"So, let me get this straight." Kakashi said as Team 7 and Tazuna travelled to the Land of Waves on a small boat so as to not attract too much attention to them. "You hired our team to protect you from this guy Gato and his league of assassins because you and the rest of your village have invested everything you have on the bridge and are too poor to afford a high ranking mission. Your people need this bridge because it will connect you to the mainland and break Gato's hold over your island. Did I get anything wrong?" he asked the bridge builder who shook his head in return.

"So, the guys we fought in the forest, they were working for Gato." Sayuri stated.

"If you guys end this mission, the moment you drop me ashore they'll assassinate me." Tazuna stated with a sad smile. "But don't feel bad about that, of course my sweet little grandson will be upset, he'll cry." Much to Naruto's annoyance Tazuna began to pretend cry in a childlike voice, "GRANDDAD I WANT MY GRANDDAD."

Naruto's brow twitched in annoyance. _"That was so fucking ridiculous; I didn't freakin sign up for this. This bloody drunk thinks we'll fall for that…so…fuckin…annoying."_ He was clenching his fists and his chakra began to flare, however a fierce glare from Kakashi made it subside.

Tazuna continued beginning to enjoy his charade now. "Oh, and my daughter will probably denounce and condemn Leaf Ninja forever for letting her father die and leaving her to live the rest of her life in sorrow."

"Is this guy for real?" Mito thought, scowling at the old man.

"Well…" Kakashi began scratching his head band. "I guess we have no choice we'll have to keep guarding you."

"Oh, I'm very grateful." Tazuna said with glee, then turning to the screen. "I win!" he said giving a victory sign.

"HEY STOP BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL." Naruto shouted from the other end of the boat.

Once they reached the bay, Team 7 and Tazuna got off from the boat thanking the fisherman for putting his life at risk by assisting them, then made their way towards Tazuna's village. They hadn't gotten very far when Naruto picked up something with his senses quickly taking out a kunai and threw it at the bushes.

"Is it another enemy." Mito asked as both she and Sayuri took up battle stances.

Kakashi showed no outward reaction.

"You brat are you trying to give me a heart attack or something." Tazuna growled.

"With the way you drink I won't need to." Naruto replied before walking over to the shrubbery. A moment later a loud scream was heard prompting Team 7 to race towards his position. To their dismay however they found him sobbing in anguish on the ground while cradling a dead rabbit in his arms.

"What the.." Mito gaped in disbelief.

"All that fuss over a rodent." Tazuna said exasperated.

_"A snow rabbit?" _Kakashi thought narrowing his eyes in suspicion. _"But they only have white fur during winter when the days are short and there's little sunlight" _he gazed into the forest as if searching for something. _"This rabbit was raised indoors away from the light which can be for only one purpose, a Replacement Technique. So, they're already here."_

Naruto was still clutching the rabbit to his chest, "BUNNYYYYY I'M SORYYYYYYY. OH BUNNY!" he cried as the waterworks fell down his cheeks.

"Get over it already." Sayuri spat tired of his antics.

He ignored her. "Don't worry little bunny." Naruto said cradling the rabbit's body. "I'll give you a proper burial once we get home." He said taking out a small scroll and sealing the rabbit into it. He got up to see the incredulous looks his team members were giving him. "What!"

"…?" Sayuri was at a loss for words not willing to accept the utterly absurd scene she was witnessing.

"Aren't you going a little overboard." Mito remarked not feeling comfortable with carrying around a rabbit corpse.

"It's my fault, I have to take responsibility." The boy cried in a passionate tone.

His theatrics were short lived when the very next moment however they were forced to duck a large sword which came spinning at them out of nowhere and embedded itself into a tree, a tall figure appeared standing over it. He was a tall and noticeably muscular man with pale skin (Though nowhere near as much as Naruto's), short spiky black hair, brown eyes, and small eyebrows, wearing bandages like a mask over the bottom half of his face. "Kakashi of the Sharingan!" he spoke addressing the Cyclops. "No wonder the Demon Brothers failed."

"Well! Well! If it isn't Zabuza Momoichi the rogue ninja from the village hidden in the mist." Kakashi said revealing the identity of their attacker.

_'Son of a bitch took my scroll?"_ Naruto thought fuming. _"I'm gonna skin the fucker's ass."_ He got ready to dash at the rogue ninja only to be stopped by Kakashi.

"You're in the way get back." Kakashi said in a grave voice.

"Get out of the way." Naruto barked but a death glare by Kakashi silenced him.

"This guy is way out of your league; he's not like the others." Kakashi said raising his headband from his left eye. "If he's my opponent I'm going to have to use this." He said dropping the mask from his left eye.

"MY GOD HE HAS TWO EYES." Naruto internally screamed.

"Impossible! There's no way." Sayuri gasped in shock on seeing her clan's prized dojutsu in her sensei's left eye socket.

Only Mito showed no visible reaction except confusion since she wasn't familiar with the concept of kekkei genkai's.

"Now quick Manji formation, protect the bridge builder and stay out of this fight." The Jonin ordered.

Both Naruto and Mito immediately took protective stances around Tazuna.

"SAYURI!" Kakashi barked breaking the Uchiha out of her stupor.

"H..Hai!" she managed to say even as a thousand questions reverberated in her head, she quickly joined her teammates.

"Looks like I get to see the Sharingan in action." Zabuza said grinning, his blood rushing at the thought of going toe to toe against someone of Kakashi's calibre. "What an honour."

"What's happening?" Mito spoke in confusion as the whole area was covered in mist.

"Kakashi I have no quarrel with you or your team." Zabuza stated. "Hand over the bridge builder to me and this won't have to end in conflict." He explained, though he both hoped and knew that Kakashi would refuse.

"Not happening." Kakashi replied taking a battle stance.

The ex-mist ninja grinned, "So be it." Landing on the ground he made a hand sign, "Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!" the next instant he disappeared.

"He's gone?" Mito said not understanding what happened.

"Don't drop your guard." Kakashi warned his team. "He'll come after me first."

"Like you're so special." Naruto mocked rolling his eyes.

"Naruto this is not the time." Mito rebuked, admonishing the blonde at his non seriousness given their situation.

"Whatever!" The blonde replied infuriating the Uzumaki at his callousness. "The mist is getting thicker." True to his words the mist grew so dense that eventually they couldn't see Kakashi anymore.

"Eight points!" Zabuza's menacing voice echoed in the mist unnerving them. "Larynx, Spine, Lungs, Liver, Jugular, Subclavian artery, Kidneys, Heart now which will be my attack point." He said making the girls shudder. Kakashi as a countermeasure released his own killing intent to match Zabuza's.

_"I can't breathe!"_ Sayuri panted the bloodlust of the Jounin overwhelming her. _"I've never felt anything so chilling since Itachi. It's like my own life is being choked off. No I can't take it. I'd rather…"_

"Sayuri get a hold of yourself." She was brought back to her senses at her sensei's calm tone.

"Don't worry I won't allow my comrades to die." Kakashi's voice assured them.

"I wouldn't be so sure." Zabuza said materializing between the genin and Tazuna making them gasp in shock. "It's over!" he swung his blade with the intention of chopping the bridge builder in half but at that exact moment Naruto stabbed a kunai right through his gut.

Zabuza eyes widened a bit, mildly impressed. _"I didn't even see him move."_

"A water clone!" Naruto noted seeing water instead of blood leak out from Zabuza's wound before it exploded drenching him, just as another Zabuza materialized behind him and sliced him in half.

"NARUTO!" his teammates screamed.

"Nice reaction time boy." Zabuza gave a belated compliment. "It wasn't enough to save you tho…." He stopped when he saw the boy turn to water. "Guess I spoke too soon."

"You got that right." Naruto replied reappearing a short distance away.

"Don't move!" Kakashi ordered from behind Zabuza holding a kunai to the rogue ninja's neck, but the Mist ninja seemed more interested in Naruto.

"How did you copy my jutsu." He asked curious, from the looks of it the boy was a Hyuga not an Uchiha.

"I have a water affinity." Naruto explained, confusing the others.

"Not bad!" Zabuza commended the boy, genuinely impressed. "To be able to use water style with shadow clones. Kakashi you've got quite a genin here." he said turning to the jounin.

"I appreciate the compliment but it's over for you." The Copy Ninja declared. He was surprised however when Zabuza chuckled despite his situation.

"You really think I'd lose to a mimicked version of my own jutsu." He said before bursting into water. The real Zabuza attacked Kakashi from behind and while the Jounin was able to dodge his sword by ducking he was unable to stop himself from being kicked into a large puddle of water.

"KAKASHI SENSEI!" Mito cried worriedly. She couldn't believe that Zabuza had broken through her sensei's guard.

"He's got great physical strength and skill." Sayuri observed.

Kakashi emerged from the water gasping for air. "This isn't normal water. It's dense…heavy…"

Zabuza appeared behind him, "Water Prison Jutsu!" he cried trapping Kakashi in a sphere of water.

_"Damn it! I underestimated him."_ Kakashi mentally cursed. "Listen get the bridge builder and run. You can't win this fight." He shouted addressing his team.

"Sorry shit face but that's not happening." Naruto said cracking his knuckles and taking a battle stance. "I've been waiting to test my skills against a foreign ninja for far too long."

"THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR ACTING ALL HIGH AND MIGHTY." Kakashi yelled. "Zabuza is after the bridge builder, we have to protect him that's our mission. You can't compromise it just to sate your desire for battle."

"Too bad!" the Otsutsuki boy remarked. "Because I'm doing it now." He said beheading a water clone of Zabuza that came at him from behind, with a blade made out of swirling water.

"What is that?" Zabuza gazed in shock at the object; he'd never seen such a jutsu.

"What kind of technique is that." Was the general thought going through the kunoichi's minds too.

"This my dear friend is my water sword or aqua blade if you want to call it." Naruto explained shrugging. "As the name suggests it's made out of water and similar to your Water Prison Jutsu is sharp as a steel blade." He revealed swinging the blade around for effect.

"You're an interesting one boy." Zabuza stated chuckling. "Tell you what you hand over the bridge builder and I let your sensei go. Sounds like a fair deal doesn't it."

"Tempting!" Naruto said pretending to be deep in thought for a moment, then smirked. "But I'll have to decline. It's obvious you can't take me down with clones and you need a lot of chakra to keep that jutsu of yours working so you can't really take me head on as you need to keep it stable." He chuckled when Zabuza frowned confirming his analysis. "That being said, you're in no position to bargain." He said dashing towards his teacher's jailer.

"Don't get cocky brat." Zabuza roared as several clones emerged from the water around Naruto circling the boy and then attacked simultaneously. The rogue ninja was left slack jawed however when the genin with supernatural reflex and speed bent his body down unnaturally in a 90° allowing their blades to swing over him before moving his own in a slicing motion cutting through each of them instantly.

Zabuza gritted his teeth seeing his clones eliminated so effortlessly. _"What is he?"_ he thought.

_"So strong!"_ Mito stared awed.

_"This guy…"_ Sayuri gawked at the display of power.

"You're going down." Naruto declared, his Byakugan activated he charged at the Rogue Ninja.

Infuriated Zabuza made several more clones to intercept the genin.

"Pointless!" The boy roared jumping over three of them decapitating them midair as he did so. Two more attempted to flake him as he landed but Naruto acted swiftly, he extended his sword impaling right through them before they could get to him.

"Child's play!" He chuckled but then noticed several shuriken heading his way. "Predictable." He commented rotating his blade deflecting all of them.

"Wow!" Mito gasped starry eyed.

"Show off!" Sayuri rolled her eyes in envy, though she had to admit het teammate knew how to do with style.

"That all you got." Naruto taunted while continuing to deflect. "If you're hoping to keep me at bay then…." He was cut short when he felt something grab at his feet. "What?" he saw two hands emerging from the water latching on to his ankles holding him in place. At the same time the shuriken shower ceased.

"It's over." The multiple Zabuza clones converged on. "This time you won't escape."

"Oh please!" Naruto said dismissively his chakra starting to permeate around him.

"What's happening?" Zabuza wondered. His heart missed a beat when the boy moved his body in a spinning motion with such force that clone holding his legs in place was wrenched out of the water and sent flying.

"Rotation!" the boy yelled creating a large spinning dome of chakra which obliterated each and every Zabuza clone while also creating swirling waves of water around it.

Team 7 and Tazuna braced themselves as a particularly large wave of water splashed over them.

"Damn it!" Zabuza cursed using his free arm to protect himself from the shower. He couldn't afford to take his eyes off the boy even for a second.

"You're done." Naruto's voice rung out suddenly as the boy shot out of the dome, which dispelled behind him, heading towards Zabuza at bullet speeds.

"Fool." The Swordsman roared, over twenty clones emerged from the water, half of them taking stances protectively in front of him, while the other half leapt forward intending to use the opening to cut the boy to shreds. "You call yourself a ninja, leaving yourself open like that. You're literally racing to your death. Like a lamb to the slaughter."

"NARUTO!" Mito screamed.

"Zabuza! Don't!" Kakashi pleaded helplessly from his prison.

"Looks like my initial impression of you was wrong." Zabuza grunted. "You're nothing but a brat playing ninja afterall." He growled.

The blonde's next words left him speechless though.

"Hook, Line & Sinker!" A strong wave of chakra emitted from Naruto's activated Byakugan which crashed into the approaching clones sending them catapulting into the one's standing guard dispelling all of them.

"NO!" Zabuza was the final thought that Zabuza processed when Naruto head crashed into his face shattering his nose and probably cracking his skull too, his limp body was sent reeling back, several meters, freeing Kakashi.

Naruto fell to the ground quickly rolling back to his feet. "Who's playing ninja now. Huh?" he barked at the fallen rogue. "Like I said, you're in no position to bargain." He then looked over to his squad leader. "You okay Kakashi?"

"I'll live." The Cyclops replied from his crouched position panting heavily trying to get as much oxygen into his lungs as possible. "I'd reprimand you for your recklessness, but considering the outcome and I'll let it pass this once."

Naruto deadpanned, "Your welcome."

Back with the team Mito broke out in cheers. "NARUTO DID IT! HE KNOCKED OUT THAT JERK! BELIEVE IT! BELIEVE IT!"

Sayuri just smirked, _"Gotta hand it to the bastard, he knows his stuff."_ She thought enviously.

_"What is this kid."_ Tazuna thought overwhelmed.

"Don't celebrate yet." A hoarse voice rung out.

Everyone got on guard once more as the fallen swordsman started to move again.

"Still alive I see." Naruto said staring as the rogue tried to regain the feeling in his limbs.

"That's one hard skull you got there, brat." Zabuza said as he staggered dizzily to his feet. Naruto could tell that his eyes were still glazed over. "I completely blacked out for a moment there." He said.

"I'll handle this." Kakashi said in a tone that left no room for argument.

"He's all yours." Naruto gestured. _"In his current state he's not likely to fight a prolonged battle."_

"I'm not going to underestimate you lot anymore." Zabuza shouted though his tone was wary from the disorientation his body was still experiencing. _"I need to get out of here and regroup."_

He began going through hand signs intending to use his next jutsu as a diversion to escape. "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" a large water dragon emerged from the water heading towards Team 7 however Kakashi had already copied the hand signs and was able to create his own Water dragon to clash with Zabuza's, water cascading all over the place.

"Woah!" Mitoa gasped in awe at the sheer size of the jutsus.

_"Is this how a battle between Jounin is?"_ Sayurii thought, just how far behind was she really.

Zabuza tried to make a run for it but was intercepted by Kakashi, leading the two to clash once more Kakashi's kunai against Zabuza's blade. _"He was able to replicate my jutsu perfectly with that Sharingan of his."_ Zabuza thought. Breaking away and gaining putting some distance between them Zabuza made more hand signs only for Kakashi to match him move for move. "How does he know what I'm going to do even before I do it, can…can he read my mind." He was further shocked when Kakashi created a powerful water vortex which sucked him in. "How? That's the jutsu I planned to use but he did it first." he cried as he was devoured by the water as the vortex devastated the area, eventually sending him crashing into a tree where he was impaled through the arms and legs by kunai.

"You're finished." Kakashi said from a branch as the water receded, seeping into the ground.

"How?" Zabuza croaked in pain. "Can you see into the future?"

"Yes!" Kakashi replied raising his kunai. "This is your last battle." Before he could do anything though two senbon hit Zabuza in the neck knocking him unconscious as he fell limp to the ground.

"You were right it was his last battle." A masked figure said as he joined them.

Kakashi jumped down to where Zabuza's body lay checking for a pulse. After a few seconds he spoke, "No vital signs it's over."

The masked ninja bowed respectfully, "You have my thanks. I've been tracking Zabuza for a while now, waiting for this chance to finally take him down."

"By your mask I can see that you're a tracker ninja from the village hidden in the mist." Kakashi stated looking suspiciously at the newcomer.

"Impressive!" the ninja commended. "You're well informed."

_"There's something off about this guy."_ Naruto thought looking him up and down activating his Byakugan. _"__His chakra…its unusual__?"_

The hunter ninja picked up Zabuza's body, "This corpse contains secrets that must not fall into the wrong hands. I thank you for your assistance but I must take my leave now." He said body flickering away with the body.

"Well that was anticlimactic." Naruto complained crossing his arms, downtrodden that he didn't get to have a real one on one with Zabuza, and then he remembered something. "Wait a minute. He still has my scroll…MY SCROLL….BUNNYYYYYY." he cried falling to his knees as the water works started again.

"Naruto! Seriously?" Mito face palmed in annoyance at her teammate's antics.

'Get a hold of yourself." Kakashi said covering his Sharingan again. "Our mission is still not complete we still have to help Tazuna complete his bridge."

"I'm sorry about the trouble you guys are having because of me." Tazuna said embarrassed. "But you guys can rest and recover at my house when we get to the village." He offered as Team 7 including Naruto gathered themselves ready to travel again.

"All right let's get a move on." Kakashi said, unfortunately he hadn't moved a single step when he stiffened and then collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"Oh, brother!" Naruto said as he and the others ran to tend to their sensei.


End file.
